Guitarist Sharon Isbin to Appear at Carnegie Hall in November

GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin will appear at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium on Wednesday, November 4 at 7pm with Sting, Katy Perry and Jerry Seinfeld for the Change Begins Within concert which will also include performances by Jim James and Angelique Kidjo. Proceeds from the event will aid the foundation's Meditate New York initiative, which provides transcendental meditation training to 10,000 at-risk New Yorkers for free. Director, screenwriter, and artist David Lynch and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News will serve as the evening's hosts. Tickets are $600-$150 and available at www.CarnegieHall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh.

Sharon Isbin will return to Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall on Thursday, November 12 at 7:30pm with soprano Isabel Leonard in a program that includes the world premiere Of Love and Longing, a song cycle written for them by Richard Danielpour. The work was commissioned by Carnegie Hall in celebration of their 125th season and by Chicago's Harris Theater. From the program notes authored by Danielpour, "I wanted to write a piece for Sharon Isbin, having been a great admirer of her work and having witnessed her devotion to the music of American composers. The texts are interpretations which have their origin in poetry of the great Persian poet Rumi. When I met with Sharon Isbin, my understanding about how to write for the guitar became clearer - she was so generous. As for Isabel Leonard, I became an instant fan after having gone to hear a performance she gave as Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. A composer does not always have the honor and pleasure of working with gifted artists who are genuinely a pleasure to be around; in this way also, I feel that I have been truly blessed." The program featuring Spanish music also includes works by Lorca, Granados, Albéniz, Rodrigo, Montsalvatge, Tárrega and de Falla. Another highlight of this charismatic evening will see both Isbin and Leonard dressed in original creations by Project Runway designer, Austin Scarlett. Tickets are $54-$46 and available atwww.CarnegieHall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh.

Hailed as "the pre-eminent guitarist of our time" and winner of multiple GRAMMY awards, Isbin's recent highlights include the acclaimed world premiere performance of Affinity: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra written for her by Chris Brubeck, three triumphant performances earlier this month with the National Symphony, as well as sold-out concerts at the Phillips Collection, the Kennedy Center, and the Aspen Music Festival with jazz artists Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo.

Sharon Isbin is the subject of an award-winning one-hour documentary presented by American Public Television. ASCAP announced, last week, that Sharon Isbin: Troubadour was the winner of the 2015 Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Television Broadcast Award. Seen by millions on nearly 200 public television stations throughout the US, it was recently released on DVD/Blu-ray by Video Artists International. Troubadour paints the portrait of a trailblazing performer and teacher who over the course of her career has broken through numerous barriers to rise to the top of a traditionally male-dominated field. Visit www.SharonIsbinTroubadour.com to view the trailer, read reviews, and see detailed broadcast dates.